Guitars 13

Normally, John Scofield plays an Ibanez AS-200, but in this Premier Guitar vi... more

Normally, John Scofield plays an Ibanez AS-200, but in this Premier Guitar video, Scofield’s guitar doesn’t make an appearance. At 0:31, Scofield says, “We flew from New York via Chicago and my Ibanez AS 200 is in transit. It's not here yet. It's not lost. It's OK. But it's not here at the gig yet.”

“A few years ago, I was contacted by a guy who had my high-school guitar – a ... more

“A few years ago, I was contacted by a guy who had my high-school guitar – a ’66 Tele that I bought new at Manny’s on 48th Street in New York. I sold it in ’68 to buy a Les Paul. The guy I sold it to gave it to another guy in Connecticut, who kept it all those years before moving to Texas. He came to a show I was doing in Austin a few years ago, and I played it. It was in good shape – had the same case and everything. I remembered the dents I put in that case. He asked if I wanted to buy it, but wanted a lot of money. I told him I’d just buy a new Tele, and I did, from Fender’s Custom Shop. Well, last year, the guy got back to me and made another offer. I couldn’t refuse, because it’s got such sentimental value. So I bought my first guitar – I own it again! I had it set up, and it sounds killer!”

"I have a 1963 ES-335 that I got a long time ago, and I recently got a 1962 E... more

"I have a 1963 ES-335 that I got a long time ago, and I recently got a 1962 ES-330 that I really like. I’ve got an old Fender Telecaster, the guitar I bought in high school that somebody resold me about 10 years ago, and I have some Custom Shop Fenders. I have a nice old Gibson Howard Roberts as well. But I mainly play those Ibanez guitars because I’m used to them, and I really like the way they sound and feel."

This guitar was also featured on "Who's Who?" album cover, and this guitar is mentioned as well in the Guitar World interview.

"That’s when Ibanez brought me this brand-new AS-200 to try, and I said, “Man, this plays great and feels great … it feels a lot like my 335.” I began playing it on that tour. When I got home, I had the Gibson adjusted, but I’d been playing the Ibanez for a month and was used to it … and I’ve been playing it ever since.".

"I have a 1963 ES-335 that I got a long time ago, and I recently got a 1962 E... more

"I have a 1963 ES-335 that I got a long time ago, and I recently got a 1962 ES-330 that I really like. I’ve got an old Fender Telecaster, the guitar I bought in high school that somebody resold me about 10 years ago, and I have some Custom Shop Fenders. I have a nice old Gibson Howard Roberts as well. But I mainly play those Ibanez guitars because I’m used to them, and I really like the way they sound and feel."

"I have a 1963 ES-335 that I got a long time ago, and I recently got a 1962 E... more

"I have a 1963 ES-335 that I got a long time ago, and I recently got a 1962 ES-330 that I really like. I’ve got an old Fender Telecaster, the guitar I bought in high school that somebody resold me about 10 years ago, and I have some Custom Shop Fenders. I have a nice old Gibson Howard Roberts as well. But I mainly play those Ibanez guitars because I’m used to them, and I really like the way they sound and feel."

No, they are fake vintage. [Laughs.] They’re from the Custom Shop. I told a friend of mine, Artie Smith, who is one of the great guitar guys in New York, that I wanted to get a Strat, but didn’t want to spend 15 grand on a vintage one. He said there was a good one at Sam Ash, so I went up there and played it for a while. I was totally embarrassed to buy it, because it has a fake cigarette burn in it and screws that have been rusted and two kinds of rubbed-off finish. [Laughs.] But you know, it sounds really good and it’s a great guitar.

Although John is practically inseparable from his Ibanez AS200, he does have ... more

Although John is practically inseparable from his Ibanez AS200, he does have other guitars. Here we see him pictured on the cover of his CD "Flat Out" with a Custom Ibanez GB Model.

This is a Black custom shop GB model with the standard GB headstock inlay. It is a thin hollowbody guitar with Ibanez designed tremelo, 5-way pickup selector switch across Humbucker-Single Coil-Humbucker pickups.

John Scofield’s preferred amp is a VOX AC30. In this Premier Guitar intervie... more

John Scofield’s preferred amp is a VOX AC30. In this Premier Guitar interview, Scofield is quoted as saying at (0:58), “Well I like Vox AC30s, and I always ask for them on the rider. We don't bring our amps with us, we just bring our pedals and guitars when we play fly dates. Where a lot of times on a bus, we'll have our own amps, and I have an older AC30 that I really like. I like the reissues up until about 2006, and through the '90s. I like those reissues. It's called AC30, TB model. These are the new models, and right here that they got for me, but they're good too.”

Speaking of amps, what was your go-to for the Juice sessions?
I used one amp... more

Speaking of amps, what was your go-to for the Juice sessions?
I used one amp for the whole record: my Vox AC-30. It’s a reissue from the late Nineties that I modded out a little bit. I changed one of the speakers so they’re mismatched, which is what Matchless does. I have a Matchless amp I really like, too.

What did you put in for the second speaker?
Another Celestion, but a different wattage. One’s a 30-watt and the other’s a 15. It’s exactly the same setup as the two speakers in the Matchless 2x12 combo.

1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb (Blackface)
The amp on the record is a ’64 Delux... more

1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb (Blackface)

The amp on the record is a ’64 Deluxe Reverb I bought about ten years ago at a music store in New York. I liked the way it sounded, but noticed it was really soft. Then, it just sort of died. I took it to a repairman, and he said, “This thing has been in a flood. You’re screwed.” I thought, “Oh, man,” and it sat in my basement for a few years. Then, last year, I brought it to a different guy for a second opinion. He replaced the transformer with another vintage one of the same type. Now, the amp is up and running and sounds great. I usually set the volume just above 3, for a touch of breakup. Fender’s reissue Deluxes are good, too, by the way.

Gearbox
“I’ve found that some of the amps that sound great are just not lo... more

Gearbox

“I’ve found that some of the amps that sound great are just not loud enough. And I don’t want to put the signal through the monitors if I can at all avoid it. Generally you can find the Mesa Boogie Mark III combos on the road 90% of the time, and that’s my favorite amp, because they have the EQ and I jack the shit out of that, say to roll off highs and add lows and mids, and that, with my guitar and my set-up really makes it-on Bump it’s the [Mesa] Boogie with all the pedals. But I’ve also had good luck on the road with Fender’s new Twin, not the re-issue. On Works for Me I used what is called a Victoria High Powered Twin, a 2-12? with a tiny touch of RATT and a little bit of reverb…but not enough. And the Victoria doesn’t have the bottom of the Mark III, but it has a quality I like, and I used on the new record. I bought one of those tubed outboard Fender Reverb units to go with it, but I only used a bit of plate on Works for Me.”

Gearbox
“I’ve found that some of the amps that sound great are just not lo... more

Gearbox

“I’ve found that some of the amps that sound great are just not loud enough. And I don’t want to put the signal through the monitors if I can at all avoid it. Generally you can find the Mesa Boogie Mark III combos on the road 90% of the time, and that’s my favorite amp, because they have the EQ and I jack the shit out of that, say to roll off highs and add lows and mids, and that, with my guitar and my set-up really makes it-on Bump it’s the [Mesa] Boogie with all the pedals. But I’ve also had good luck on the road with Fender’s new Twin, not the re-issue. On Works for Me I used what is called a Victoria High Powered Twin, a 2-12? with a tiny touch of RATT and a little bit of reverb…but not enough. And the Victoria doesn’t have the bottom of the Mark III, but it has a quality I like, and I used on the new record. I bought one of those tubed outboard Fender Reverb units to go with it, but I only used a bit of plate on Works for Me.”

“Mason Mangella convinced me to use this because it's true bypass,” Scofield ... more

“Mason Mangella convinced me to use this because it's true bypass,” Scofield says in this video at 3:43. “This is pretty subtle. It's a distortion thing, but it's a blues kind... not a real crunch. As much as anything I use the distortion of the AC30. It's a natural thing,” Scofield said.